💥ONE SHOT 1: I CAME FOR YOU.

🔹️Part 4: Lurking in the Shadows Part 2/3.

Sorry for the delay in updating 😅 I had already written the dialogues for this part a while ago but I needed to add explanations, and the truth was that I was lazy to sit down and write because it was the end of the year and because afterwards I went on vacation haha, but here is this part 🥳

I tell you that I had to separate it because it was getting too long, that's why I changed the title of this part and the previous one, there were going to be two parts of "Lurking in the Shadows" but now there are three, and I promise to publish the next part next week because it's almost finished ☺️

I also let you know that from now on the updates will be more frequent 😃

I can't consider this a One Shot anymore because of how long it's getting and because of everything I'm planning to write so now it's a short story with several parts 😁 I won't say how many because I don't know yet but it will have at least 11, maybe it will reach 12, 13 or more? 🤔

I also want to let you know that I will not abandon this story, I already have the ending written so I will finish it, I hope to achieve it sooner rather than later haha, I want to have this story finished 😁

Enjoy reading! 😘

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💥I CAME FOR YOU.

🔹️Part 4: Lurking in the Shadows Part 2/3.

"What?" Peter, Ned and MJ said at the same time.

"Well that, that Peter 1 can come with us." Peter (Tobey) answered Ned and MJ.

He then looked at Peter and gave him a kind smile to let him know that he was not a burden and that he and Peter (Andrew) did not mind him moving in with them.

Peter was stunned by such an unexpected offer and was left speechless, so Ned spoke in his place.

"But Peter can't just come and live with you like that." The boy said with a frown. "You have to do some paperwork first so it's legal..."

Ned was saying as an excuse because the truth was that he didn't want to give up on his idea of ​​Peter moving in with him and being like his brother, however Peter (Andrew) interrupted him with a solution.

"We know how to evade justice." Peter (Andrew) clarified with a mischievous tone and winked, then he placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, who was standing next to him, and gave him a gentle squeeze as a consolation. "With us Peter 1 will be safe and away from the clutches of stupid social workers, we will not let them come looking for him to take him to an orphanage." He said that last thing with a serious expression and in a firm and determined voice.

Peter felt a pleasant feeling of warmth spreading through his chest, he liked feeling cared for by someone now that he was alone because he no longer had aunt May and Mr. Stark.

But despite the two Peters' good intentions, "being safe" for Peter was going to be impossible.

None of the three knew that the social workers would never show up to look for Peter because the first person to come looking for him would be Tony Stark, aka Superior Iron Man, and to make matters worse with the goal of taking him to another universe, a place much less accessible than any orphanage or foster home where a social worker would take him, from which Peter could escape or where Peter (Tobey) and Peter (Andrew) could go looking for Peter to rescue him.

Doing that in a universe far away and with what Tony had in mind to prevent an escape and a rescue was going to be impossible, so when Tony got his way, Peter (Tobey) and Peter (Andrew) would lose Peter forever, and Peter would lose them.

Unfortunately for Peter (Tobey) and Peter (Andrew) the kidnapping of their new younger brother Spider-Man was going to be inevitable, even though they wanted to help him to prevent someone from taking him away they were not going to be able to achieve it because obviously they could avoid the social workers but not this twisted version of Peter's former mentor, this Superior Tony Stark.

All they had left to do was enjoy the time they had left together as a little Spider-Man family.

"We'll hide him." Peter (Tobey) clarified to Ned and MJ because they had worried faces. "We don't care if it's legal or not, we don't plan on adopting him, it's not the best way because those adoption procedures take time." Peter (Tobey) pointed at Ned and added. "Not even that Matt guy you just mentioned could speed it up so much for example in the case that your mother wanted to adopt Peter 1."

Peter (Andrew) nodded, agreeing with Peter (Tobey).

Ned frowned at them both.

"Oh, don't underestimate Matt Murdock, he's the best lawyer there is." The boy let them know while crossing his arms and putting on a serious expression.

Ned was inadvertently giving Tony a lot of information, first he had the problem that he always talked too much, second he wasn't doing it on purpose and third he didn't know that they were being stalked and listened to.

He had no way of knowing, Tony was very well hidden in the deteriorated beam construction, and he was also careful with his movements so as not to be detected by the spider sense of the three Spider-Men or by the scrutinizing gaze of the wizard.

Peter (Tobey) shrugged at Ned's words, while his friend Peter (Andrew) said smugly.

"I don't care."

"Listen, Ned." Peter called him suddenly, taking a step towards him.

Tony felt his stomach turn as he heard Peter's voice again after the few minutes he had not spoken, the truth was that he didn't want him to be quiet, he hadn't heard his voice for three long years and it had been torture, now that he was hearing it since he arrived in this universe he didn't want to stop hearing it.

Tony could spend the whole day listening to Peter, hearing anything he had to tell him, like the old days, when he and his Peter lived in his universe, the truth was that he had missed the boy a lot.

Tony had to grab onto a new beam in an attempt to stay in place so as not to turn on the blue repulsors on his suit and fly towards this Peter who was now his son, such a necessary but at the same time reckless move could ruin everything, he had to continue with the plan he was forming in his mind.

So with that firm purpose Tony controlled his strong paternal impulses, desisting from going after his son, which was quite a feat with Extremis running through his veins, and returned his attention to Peter and the others' conversation.

"Thanks for your offer but..." Peter was telling Ned with a sad look, he bit his lower lip for a second, which hurt because of the cut he had, and said with sincerity and regret. "But I don't know if I'll be able to accept it at this moment, just because of the fact that I'm not ready to go through adoption procedures, it's very hard and very painful for me, I just lost my aunt May, I can't..."

A tear fell from his eye, sliding down his cheek, Peter quickly wiped it away with the back of his hand and said in a voice slightly choked with imminent tears.

"I can't go through with that, I really can't."

Peter took a deep breath to try to calm himself down so he wouldn't start crying, he still had a very fresh memory of himself crying inconsolably in Ned and MJ's arms on the roof of the school, hours after aunt May had been killed by the Green Goblin.

He didn't want to relive something so painful.

"What Peter 2 and Peter 3 are offering me is the best for now, it's the most sensible." Peter explained to his best friend, he looked at the two Peters in question and then looked back at Ned. "They can efficiently hide me from the social workers, your mom couldn't do it even if she wanted to, you are very connected to me for being my best friend, remember how they interrogated you after Mysterio revealed my secret identity as Spider-Man."

Peter grimaced and continued to explain his point, he really hated having to say no to Ned but he insisted that he couldn't be adopted at the moment, nor could he do things illegally and hide out in Ned's house.

"Your house would be the first place they would come looking for me..."

"Dude, I know but what if they come looking for you?" Ned interrupted him abruptly, not understanding why Peter was making such a big deal out of it.

He understood that he didn't want to be adopted now but with his incredible powers he could hide perfectly in his house, without running any risk.

The social workers didn't represent any threat to Spider-Man, even if they discovered that Peter was there at some point... they wouldn't be able to do anything, they couldn't take him away, obviously, much less with his help and MJ's.

Ned was thinking about asking Doctor Strange for the magic ring, just in case things hypothetically got ugly, if the wizard lent it to him... Ned could use the ring to open a portal and problem solved.

He, Peter and MJ would go through the portal and go to any other sector of the city, just like that.

"You can fight them." Ned suggested the obvious to Peter, spread his arms and shouted effusively. "You're Spider-Man!"

He then dropped his arms to his sides and continued to stare at his best friend in disbelief, he saw Peter open his mouth to speak but he beat him to it with the other solution that had occurred to him.

"We can also escape with that magic ring you took from Strange in the Mirror Dimension, I'll open a portal to any other place and that's it." Ned said with a shrug.

Okay, he was supposed to politely ask Strange for the ring first but he had already made a mistake and spoken as if he were the owner of the ring, which could have made the wizard angry, and to make matters worse he had mentioned what Peter did to Strange, something that had left him very furious and annoyed.

But hey, Ned screwed up a lot.

"What makes you think I'll give you my ring?" Strange snapped with an arched eyebrow and a tone of voice that indicated he didn't have much patience.

The wizard was tired of dealing with irresponsible teenagers who did whatever they wanted and, to top it off, showed him no respect.

He was the adult! Even though he was not the father of any of those children, just because he was an adult he deserved due respect.

And he deserved it even more because of his rank as a wizard, he was the Sorcerer Supreme!

"Damn kids" Strange thought grumpily, his eye twitching.

"I..." Ned stammered nervously, not knowing what to say.

Strange looked at the sky for a few seconds, which was now completely clear due to the dawn, took a deep breath of air and then looked straight ahead while massaging his forehead with his fingers, searching for patience.

Suddenly, without warning, he made a circular motion with his hands, using the ostentatious magic ring he had placed on his index and ring fingers to open a small portal that connected to the New York Sanctuary.

From a distance Tony carefully analyzed the portal, his electric blue eyes scrutinizing every detail, the movements the wizard made to open it, the interdimensional circle that the portal had formed, its edges, like a band of orange-yellow energy that gave off sparks.

Strange reached into the portal, took out an object that was stored in the Sanctuary, then pulled his hand out and closed the portal, keeping the object secured in his closed hand, then looked at Ned and held out his hand in his direction, opening it to show him the object in his palm.

It was another ring, different from the one Strange was wearing but quite similar, at least in appearance.

Ned stared in shock at the ring Strange was offering him, doing nothing, causing the wizard to begin to lose the little patience he had acquired.

Finally Ned reacted thanks to an elbow given to him by Peter (Andrew), so he hurriedly took the ring and stared at it in his hands, then looked up and saw Strange's serious face, he swallowed to contain his nerves, that look was very intimidating.

"Here, you can have this one for now." Strange said to the surprise of Ned, Peter and MJ.

They had not imagined that Strange would be willing to lend something like that, much less to a teenager, and much less with the way he had answered Ned when he said that they could use the ring.

The reality was that Strange was not usually that generous or rather irresponsible, he only risked lending that ring to Ned because it was really necessary.

Stephen was thinking about leaving this universe for other universes where he had trusted friends to look for answers about what happened with the cracks in the sky, they could come to know something, and that something would be very useful for Strange to decipher the mystery.

However doing that would take a couple of days and he didn't want to leave Peter alone, unprotected, so one way to protect him was to lend that portal-opening ring to Ned, the other was to leave the boy in the care of the two older Peter Parkers, which was already happening.

Strange had heard them offer Peter to come live with them and he was happy and relieved about that.

The brat had managed to start to get into his heart without intending to, now Strange understood the feeling of paternal protection that Tony Stark had felt towards the boy, the one he had shown on the spaceship in front of him, and he couldn't blame him for falling into that kind of love.

Peter could win over even the coldest person, such as Strange, who was cold.

The teenager without realizing it, without looking for it, without trying to please, achieved it but that's how he was, he was a very sweet and noble boy.

"And to think I didn't want to have children" Strange thought worried by the sudden deviation of his thoughts.

His affection for Peter was intensifying, more so now knowing that the boy was in danger even if he didn't see it, Strange knew he was in danger, that's why he didn't want to leave him alone, unprotected, and he was surprised to care so much about the teenager.

Further proof that this was happening, that he cared about Peter, was the tears he nearly shed when the boy asked him to cast a spell making the world forget who Peter Parker is.

Strange hadn't wanted to cast that spell, he didn't want Peter to be alone in the world, he didn't want to forget him either but he knew it was necessary for the good of this universe and the multiverse.

Or well, it had been until the purple cracks in the sky closed on their own in a very mysterious way.

Anyway, Strange was already worrying too much about Peter and felt like there was no turning back.

"What are you doing to me, Peter Parker?" the wizard asked himself in his mind, baffled by his increasingly strong paternal tendencies towards Tony Stark's former protégé.

"Damn kid" Strange thought at the end, a little resigned but deep down happy.

A small smile was beginning to form on his lips but Strange quickly wiped it away before it became noticeable.

The truth was that it was nice to love someone so much, it had been a long time since something like that had happened to Strange, he considered himself a cold and short-tempered man but Peter was changing that.

It was not something very visible from the outside since Strange continued to show himself as he was, it was something visible only to the wizard.

While it was also visible to Superior Iron Man, who had noticed the potential father-son relationship that Stephen Strange and Peter Parker could form, that was one of the reasons, if not the main one, why he wanted him dead.

While Tony knew that this father-son dynamic couldn't possibly be as real as the one between him and Peter... he was too jealous to allow it to happen, to develop, and it seemed like an extremely aberrant relationship to him.

Peter was his and no one else's, he belonged to him, he was his dad, and that's how it would always be.

Unaware of what this twisted Tony Stark had already foreseen, Strange had still noticed an obvious change in himself, in his person, yes, something was definitely changing inside him, that something was this growing paternal affection he felt towards Peter.

As cold as the wizard was he felt as if he were ice that was thawing from the heat of a fire.

"Okay, enough" Strange thought with embarrassment, feeling his pale cheeks turning slightly red, his thoughts had gone too far already, he was getting pathetically cheesy, he would focus on the present, on the here and now.

And that was leaving Peter Parker protected.

"This ring allows you to make portals within this universe." Strange explained pointing to the ring Ned had in his hand. "Not like the one I have which is for making portals in the multiverse, it's not as powerful but it's useful, it'll come in handy in a pinch."

"Cool." Ned replied with a big smile, then suddenly he wiped the smile off his face and looked longingly at the ring Stephen was wearing. "And why can't I have one like yours?" He asked, shrugged and clarified nonchalantly. "I've been using it for a few hours."

"Excuse me?" Strange said with an arched eyebrow and a dangerous tone of voice.

Ned gulped, suddenly nervous because he realized he had said too much, he should have just accepted the ring but... it was much cooler to open portals in different universes than just in this universe!

It was also safer for Peter, or well... that's what Ned thought.

Strange was right that the multiverse was not to be messed with.

"That should never have happened." Stephen said seriously, bringing Ned out of his thoughts.

Ned opened his mouth to defend himself but the wizard continued speaking.

"And you should be grateful for this one alone." He said pointing again at the ring Ned was holding in his hand.

Suddenly the boy felt a sudden and noticeable shame for his immature behavior but Strange did not flinch and continued to lecture him.

"It is a great honor that I am lending it to you, and to answer your question..." The wizard put on an even more serious face, if that was possible, and clarified harshly. "I would never lend you a ring like mine, it is too much responsibility for a kid, you don't mess with the multiverse."

Strange turned his blue eyes to Peter and said in an equally harsh voice.

"As Peter has already verified."

"Ouch." Peter and Ned said in unison, hurt by that comment.

"I understand sir and thank you for lending me the other ring." Ned said hurriedly and to show that he was truly grateful he placed the ring on his right hand, on his index and ring fingers.

Strange nodded after seeing that and Ned's words, then looked back at Peter with a very serious look, causing the teenager to feel exposed and intimidated.

"Anything to protect this reckless kid." Stephen commented crudely, sounding very much like Mr. Stark in Peter's opinion.

"Ouch." Peter said again, feeling that phrase as a veiled scolding.

To avoid staring Stephen in the eye, he lowered his head slightly and stared at his feet while scratching his arm over his nanotech Spider-Man suit.

Even in the shadows of his hiding place Tony smiled chillingly, he was beginning to appreciate this Ned a little because the boy, without realizing it, started very useful conversations, full of crucial information, giving him a lot of data.

Without meaning to, he was making Tony's plan to take over Peter more efficient.

Thanks to Ned, Tony now knew that the wizard's full name was Stephen Strange, which made it much easier for him to investigate him to discover his weaknesses and kill him.

But the most important thing Ned had made Tony know was the function of those two magic rings, now Tony knew that they were a problem that needed to be solved urgently.

Those powerful and annoying rings could ruin everything.

Tony had to get hold of those rings at all costs, and more urgently the one Strange had, which could open portals to other universes.

But Tony would not be satisfied with just those two rings in his possession, he also had to destroy the place from which Strange had taken the ring he gave to Ned.

He had to blow it up, set it on fire, whatever, have the place razed to the ground or in ashes because Tony couldn't allow objects as powerful as those rings to be within Peter's reach, and there could be more than the two in his sights.

Tony didn't want Peter to get away but if he did, he would track him relentlessly, discovering the universe he was trying to hide in in order to catch him.

But Tony wouldn't go that far, he would kill Strange, keep the two portal opening rings, destroy the place where Strange kept those kinds of powerful objects, and finally trap Peter in this universe.

It would be the only universe that Peter would see and be in while Tony did all that, and then he would meet and live in his new universe, Tony's.

Superior Iron Man smiled a creepy smile as his electric blue eyes glowed brightly.

"Don't you think it's great, Peter?" Ned asked him excitedly, oblivious to the great harm he was doing to his best friend with everything he said.

If Ned had known that a dark Tony Stark was listening to them he would have kept quiet, or at least tried to, but not knowing that with each word he said he was pushing Peter further and further away from him.

Ned said all that because he wanted Peter to be with him at home but the reality was that Peter would be in a very distant universe with a possessive Tony Stark.

And unfortunately Ned was facilitating that.

Peter frowned at Ned's question and clicked his tongue in disgust.

His best friend ignored him and continued with a cheerfulness that contrasted with his mood.

"Now we also have this ring and we can use it in emergencies." Ned said raising his hand where the ring had been placed so that it would show off and Peter could see it, he shrugged and added simply. "The social workers will never get to you, and in case they do and we can't use the ring for X reason you can fight them."

Ned put both hands on Peter's shoulders, shook him lightly and yelled.

"You're Spider-Man, dude!"

"I know, Ned." Peter replied, breaking free from his friend's grip.

The teenager let out a heavy sigh as he brought a hand to the top of his forehead and pushed back some of his brown curls that had fallen out from the battle.

"I know we can use the ring and I know I can fight too but I'm tired of fighting people." Peter explained him with a tone that was both tired and grumpy, then he put on a sad expression and said. "And being Spider-Man has already brought me many problems, including legal problems because of Mysterio."

Peter shrugged and finished with a rather defeated attitude.

"Both my name and surname and my identity as a hero are stained and I don't want to add another stain." He suddenly adopted a determined expression and said in a firmer tone. "Not if I can help it."

Ned nodded, his expression a little sad, giving up.

"I understand perfectly, Peter." He said to his friend's relief, he placed a hand on his shoulder and added. "I won't insist any longer, you have to do what is best for you, sorry for being selfish, I just wanted to have you with me."

Ned took his hand off Peter's shoulder and shoved both hands into the pockets of his jacket.

Peter shook his head.

"No, you forgive me Ned, forgive me for not being strong enough to try it." Peter said with his voice a little broken.

"You're bringing tears to my eyes, losers." MJ complained suddenly, wiping one away with her fingers.

Peter and Ned looked at each other knowingly, then hugged MJ, she tried to pull away.

"Enough! I'm fine now! I'm not as sensitive as I seem!" The curly-heared girl protested, acting indignant but actually she was amused.

Peter and Ned released her from the hug while laughing.

Peter's laughter was like music to Tony's developed ears.

Too bad it was a little drowned out by Ned's hideous laughter.

Peter turned to the other two Peter Parkers.

"How did you guys get the idea that I would move in with you? Aren't you planning on returning to your universes?" He asked curiously.

"Not at the moment." Peter (Tobey) answered him.

"We'll be staying here for a while." Peter (Andrew) explained him.

The thing was that Peter still didn't understand.

"B-but... why?" He asked with a stutter.

"Because we decided so." Peter (Tobey) answered simply, not satisfying Peter with that vague answer.

"But... I don't understand." The teenager muttered with a frown.

"It's just that we hid it from you until now." Peter (Andrew) confessed to him.

He moved over to Peter's side, standing next to Peter (Tobey), so that he was in front of Peter, he put a hand on his shoulder, he bent down a little to be at his height since he was taller than Peter, so they were at the same level and he could look him straight in the eyes, and he said to him.

"Listen, Peter 2 and I had already talked privately about staying in this universe for a while."

Peter (Andrew) smiled broadly at Peter's surprised look and clarified.

"We even rented a pretty big and nice apartment." He removed his hand from Peter's shoulder, straightened up, shrugged and concluded. "There's room for one more."

"We had actually already thought of you." Peter (Tobey) admitted him with a kind smile, then put on a sad expression and explained. "It was the quickest solution after... after the loss of your aunt May."

Peter felt a lump form in his throat at the mention of his deceased aunt, he made an effort to control the tears that threatened to appear, his eyes suddenly feeling watery.

Peter (Tobey) went on to explain the situation to Peter.

"And also the solution that we thought would make you happier, that you are close to other Peter Parkers who went through the same thing as you or something similar."

"And just as ugly." Peter (Andrew) added, grimacing.

"We couldn't leave you alone to deal with that, we wanted to be there for you and help you with whatever you needed." Peter (Tobey) told him with a protective older brother attitude.

That made Peter feel that pleasant warm feeling in his chest again from feeling cared for.

"We would have liked other Peter Parkers to accompany us, so we will do it with you." Peter (Andrew) took it for granted, suddenly put on a doubtful expression and muttered. "If you want of course."

Peter (Tobey) nodded at Peter (Andrew) for that last thing he said, then he fixed his blue eyes on Peter and asked him.

"Do you want to live with us?"

Peter couldn't answer right away because he had an annoying lump in his throat from the formation of snot due to imminent crying, his lack of response worried the two older Peters and it was noticeable in their expressions so Peter nodded several times awkwardly to make himself understood.

The other two Peters put on expressions of relief and joy.

At that Peter could no longer control himself, he felt his eyes fill with tears of pure joy, just in case it would not be understood that he meant "yes" to that invitation, he stammered many incomprehensible "yes", which were also not very understandable because of his hoarse voice but were understandable enough for the two Peters, Peter's new "brothers".

The teenager lunged at them for a hug, which he got, as soon as he got close enough to the two Peters, they caught him in their protective arms, so that the three of them were enveloped in a warm and comforting brotherly hug.

"Well, with this I think we're brothers now." Peter (Tobey) said with a laugh. "Welcome to the family, Peter Parker."

"Yeah, welcome to the family, Peter Parker." Peter (Andrew) said also laughing.

Peter let out a choked sob and then a soft laugh.

"Thanks, thanks, thanks, I'm glad I can be part of your family, Peter Parker and Peter Parker." He said happily, still without moving away from the hug.

"We are also happy to have you, you are like our little brother, I will be the older brother." Peter (Tobey) commented kindly causing Peter to laugh.

"And I will be the middle brother." Peter (Andrew) proclaimed himself with joy.

"And I will be the youngest brother." Peter said with a smile, he smiled even more and named himself as they had agreed during the battle. "Peter 1."

The other two Peters smiled knowingly.

"Peter 2." Peter (Tobey) renamed himself again.

"And Peter 3." Peter (Andrew) said, separating from the hug and raising both hands like he did when they got confused fighting the villains and had to name themselves again, but this time he smiled with amusement.

Ned, MJ and even Strange watched the exchange between the three Peters with joy, they were also relieved that Peter had a new home and people who would take care of him.

The only one who was not happy or relieved was Tony, who was very jealous, upset and angry.

He didn't want to share Peter with anyone.

Those two Peter Parkers weren't Peter's new family, he was.

This would be forever, a Tony Stark and a Peter Parker should never, ever be separated.

Never.

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This is where we get to with this part, I divided it there, more or less in half, I estimate that the next part will be longer because I haven't finished it yet but it's almost ready 🥳 it would be the conclusion of this conversation between Peter and the others, with Tony listening to everything.

After the next part (Lurking in the Shadows Part 3/3), which I repeat I will publish next week, I will move on to the next thing I have planned 😎

See you soon! 😘